Timeline of Walt Disney World

1901 — Walter Elias Disney is born December 5

1923 — Walt and his brother Roy start the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio

1928 — Mickey Mouse first appears in a cartoon

1955 — Disneyland opens in California on July 17

The Mickey Mouse Club TV show debuts

1964 — Four Disney exhibits appear at the New York World’s Fair

1965 — Walt announces he’ll build a new theme park in Florida

1966 — Walt Disney dies December 15 at age sixty-five

1971 — Walt Disney World opens on October 1

1975 — Space Mountain, the first Walt Disney World roller coaster, opens

1982 — Epcot opens October 1

1989 — Disney-MGM Studios (later renamed Hollywood Studios) and Typhoon Lagoon open

1995 — Blizzard Beach Water Park opens

1998 — Disney’s Animal Kingdom opens on April 22

2011 — Star Tours—The Adventures Continue opens at Hollywood Studios

2016 — Disney Springs opens

2017 — Pandora—The World of Avatar opens in May